CLASSIFICATION OF MADREPORA OR ACROPORA
KINGDOM :- ANIMALIA ( Multicellular eukaryotic organisms)
PHYLUM :- COELENTRATA OR CNIDARIA (Tissue grade, diploblastic and acoelomate. )
CLASS :- ANTHOZOA OR ACTINOZOA (Only polypoid generation. sedentary, solitary, colonial.)
SUB-CLASS :- HEXACORALLIA (Tentacles and mesenteries in multiple of five or six.)
ORDER :- MADREPORARIA (Stony corals with compact calcareous exoskeleton.)
FAMILY :- OCULINIDAE (having the walls of the corallites.)
GENUS :- Madrepora (Horn coral)
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
It is found in West Indies and Florida.
HABIT AND HABITAT
Madrepora is colonial, symbiotic and marine coral.
GENERAL CHARACTERSTICS OF MADREPORA OR ACROPORA
- Commonly called as Horn coral.
- It plays important role in coral-reef formation.
- Colony branched, being either flagellate radiate or thick. Branching less towards the periphery. Colony is partly porous or reticulate covered by perisarc.
- Colony consists of cylindrical cups or corallites for polyps in coenosarc.
- The corallite is secreted by basal discs of polyps and is composed of calcium carbonate.
- Polyps look like flowers. Terminal and lateral polyps possess 6 and 12 tentacles respectively, and are without central columella.
- Internally mesenteries are bilaterally arranged and coenosarc contains a network of canals.
- Sometimes small crustaceans are found in association with horn corals.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The colony increases in size by growth and budding of the polyps.
IDENTIFICATION
The animal contains corallita and all above characters and hence it is Madrepora
